世界小史 第23章:奧西里斯神

Perhaps you're wondering why the pharaoh should want to build such a gigantic tomb?

你也許要問：為什么法老想建造這么一座巨大的墳?zāi)鼓?

It was all part of his religion.

這跟他的宗教有關(guān)。

The Egyptians believed in many gods.

埃及人信仰許多神。

Some had ruled over them as kings long ago - or at least, that's what they thought - and among these were Osiris and his consort, Isis.

過去一些神像國王一樣統(tǒng)治他們很長時(shí)間--至少他們是這么認(rèn)為的，在諸神中有奧西里斯神和他的妻子伊希斯。

The sun god, Amon, was a special god.

太陽神阿蒙，是一個(gè)特殊的神。

The Kingdom of the Dead had its own god, Anubis, and he had a jackal's head.

一個(gè)神主宰著冥府，他長著一顆胡狼腦袋，名叫阿努比斯。

Each pharaoh, they believed, was a son of the sun god, which explains why they feared him so much and obeyed all his commands.

他們認(rèn)為每一個(gè)法老都是太陽神的兒子，這就解釋了他們?yōu)槭裁催@么懼怕他并服從他所有的命令。

In honor of their gods they chiselled majestic stone statues, as tall as a five-storey house, and built temples as big as towns.

為了向他們的神表達(dá)敬意，他們鑿了巨大、莊嚴(yán)的石像，像五層樓房一樣高，還建了像城鎮(zhèn)那樣大的廟宇。

In front of the temples they set tall pointed stones, cut from a single block ofgranite.

他們在廟宇前聳立著從整塊的花崗石分割出來的高而尖的石頭。

These are called 'obelisks', a Greek word meaning something like 'little spear'.

它們被稱為方尖石碑，這是希臘語，是"小矛"的意思。

In some of our own cities you can still see obelisks that people brought back from Egypt.

今天你還能在某些城市見到這樣的方尖石碑，它們是從埃及運(yùn)來的。

There's one in London by the Thames.

在泰晤士河畔的倫敦也有一座(方尖石碑)。